Safo-Antwi who made the final of the men’s 60metre event (at the just-ended IAAF Indoor Athletics Championships) finishing in seventh place took to his social media handles yesterday to reveal that he has been selected to represent Team Ghana in the 100metre and 4×100 metre races at the Games between April 4, 2018 – April 15, 2018.

Time To Represent!!! I Have Been Selected To Represent Team Ghana In The 100m & 4x100m At The Commonwealth Games In Australia! Let Go Champ!! Next Stop Australia (Gold Coast) pic.twitter.com/fQAllTfXfx

His teammate, Acheampong also shared a touching anecdote revealing how her appearance at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland changed her life forever.

Acheampong, who has similarly been selected by Team Ghana for the 100 metres and 4×100 races in Australia said competing in Glasgow four years ago helped her rediscover her love for track.

“Four years ago I made the momentous decision to join Team Ghana at The Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and change the direction of my life forever. It was there I rediscovered my love for track and found a future running after my dreams,” the US-born sprinter wrote on Facebook.

She added: “I’m proud to finally announce I’ve been selected for my second Commonwealth Games with Team Ghana! I’ll be competing in the 100m and 4x100m in the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games (Australia). Make sure to stay tuned here and on my blog to get immersed in the Commonwealth experience and see why I decided track was the path I wanted to run on ❤”.

About Sean Safo-Antwi

Sean Safo-Antwi (born 31 January 1990) is a Ghanaian sprinter. He competed for Great Britain before switching allegiance to Ghana in early 2016, a move that was not opposed by the British Federation.

He was due to represent Ghana for the first time at the 2016 World Indoor Championships but was withdrawn at the last minute. In 2016 he represented Ghana in the 100 metres at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

About Gemma Acheampong

Gemma Acheampong (born 13 February 1993 in Chicago, Illinois) is a US-born Ghanaian athlete specialising in the sprinting events.

Acheampong holds the Ghanaian record in the rarely-contested indoor 300 metres event. She represented Ghana in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Source: Graphic

]]>http://sport.citifmonline.com/2018/03/14/safo-antwi-acheampong-declare-readiness-for-2018-commonwealth-games/feed/0Commonwealth Games 2018: GH Athletes undergo medical exam ahead of departurehttp://sport.citifmonline.com/2018/03/05/commonwealth-games-2018-gh-athletes-undergo-medical-exam-ahead-of-departure/
http://sport.citifmonline.com/2018/03/05/commonwealth-games-2018-gh-athletes-undergo-medical-exam-ahead-of-departure/#respondMon, 05 Mar 2018 18:28:24 +0000http://sport.citifmonline.com/?p=8083372 Ghanaian athletes have undergone medical screening, few days to their departure for their pre-game camping ahead of the Commonwealth Games in Australia.

The athletes are drawn from 12 disciplines and will leave for Australia next week for a 3-week camp before the games commence on 4th April.

The likes of Hor Halutie, Rafiatu Nuhu, Sarfo Ansah, the 23-contingent female hockey team, among others were taken through Liver Functioning Test (LFT), Urine Test, Pregnancy Test, HIV test to ascertain the medical readiness of the contingent for the multi-sport games next month.

There was also an anti-doping seminar organized for the athletes by the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

Public Relations Officer of the ministry, Elvis Adjei Baah, explained to Citi Sports that the rationale behind the seminar was to update athletes on new doping regulations.

“Most of the athletes are first time athletes and this seminar is very important because the World Anti-Doping Agency keeps updating its list of banned substances,” he said.

“It is important for our athletes to know what’s legal and what’s not because sometimes you could be taking something illegal and never even be aware that it’s been banned by WADA hence this seminar,” he concluded.

Ghana’s contingent for the Gold Coast games will leave for Australia next week for the second leg of their camping after completing a one month camping in Ghana.

This is to afford the athletes enough time to acclimatise to conditions before the start of the games.

Safo-Antwi made the final of the men’s 60m event but finished 7th in a race won by American, Christian Coleman.

The competition was the second major one for Safo-Antwi since he decided to switch his nationality from Great Britain. The Rio 2016 Games was his first outing for Ghana.

GAA Spokesperson, Erasmus Kwaw, told Citi Sports on Monday that the athlete has put in a lot of work and getting to the final was ample proof.

“It was an amazing from Sean Safo-Antwi and for those who have followed him, his making the final would not have been a surprise. His potential has always been there. Last year, he won the Glasgow Grand Prix event.

PHOTO FINISH: Photograph of the athletes at the finish line of the men’s 60m event at the World Indoor Championships. Safo Antwi is in the yellow kit. (Image credit: IAAF)

His time with Ghana has been a mixed bag. He went to the Rio Games but he did not do as well as he wanted. He recovered from that, ran well but was ruled out of the World Championships due to injury.

He came back and has done a lot of good work. He run a time of 6.59 in the semis of the indoor championships, Of course, the final was a tough ask because of the quality in the race.

However, overall, it was a massive achievement from Sean.”

Safo-Antwi and Flings Owusu-Agyapong represented Ghana in the World Indoor Championships.

Two Ghanaian athletes will compete at the 17th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, UK from 1st to 4th March.

Sprinters Flings Owusu-Agyapong (60m) and Sean Safo-Antwi (60m) booked their tickets last year for the World Indoor Championships.

Flings, 29, will be representing Ghana for the third time at the World Indoor championships having last competed at the 2012 and 2015 World Indoor championships. Her season best in the 60m sprint heading into the championships is 7.35 secs.

Sean, 28, will be making his debut appearance for Ghana at the Indoors. He opened his season by clocking 6.64s in the 600m in Mondeville, France on 3rd February.

How they qualified:

Sprinter Sean Safo Antwi met the entry standard for the IAAF World Indoor Championships Birmingham 2018 after clocking 6.56s in the men’s 60m to meet the IAAF’s qualifying mark of 6.63s. Antwi, who is based in the UK, has a personal best 6.55s (PB).

Sprinter Flings Owusu Agyapong met the entry standard for the IAAF World Indoor

Championships Birmingham 2018 after clocking 7.26s in the women’s 60m to meet the IAAF’s qualifying mark of 7.30s.

Flings, who is based in the USA, has a personal best 7.18s (PB).

Meanwhile, two other athletes, Emmanuel Dasor (400m) and Alex Amankwa’s (800m), have passed on the opportunity to compete at the Worlds.

Source: Ghana Athletics Association

]]>http://sport.citifmonline.com/2018/03/01/two-ghanaian-athletes-to-compete-at-2018-iaaf-world-indoors/feed/0Hor Halutie: The making of Ghana’s next sprint queenhttp://sport.citifmonline.com/2018/02/28/hor-halutie-the-making-of-ghanas-next-sprint-queen/
http://sport.citifmonline.com/2018/02/28/hor-halutie-the-making-of-ghanas-next-sprint-queen/#respondWed, 28 Feb 2018 10:37:45 +0000http://sport.citifmonline.com/?p=80641Citi Sports’ Fentuo Tahiru has been following the Ghana Athletics Association’s Circuit Championships and he puts down his thoughts on Hor Halutie and her amazing journey up the Ghanaian sprint ladder.

At around 11am, the blazing sun inside the Cape Coast Stadium was approaching the epicenter. And while fans in the stands were insouciant about the unforgivable blazing rays, thanks to the giant roof over their heads, the athletes along the running tracks snarled in search of the slightest hint of shade.

One of those was 18-year old 100m runner, Hor Halutie.

She was tucked away in a small corner, slightly withdrawn from the rest of the crowd, hands in tracksuit pocket, seated and leaning against the wall.

“My main focus is to reduce my time,” she told me.

The men’s 100m Heats were in progress and the announcer had called on the women to get ready. This was Halutie getting ready; zoned out of the crowd, nervously focused, but mightily confident.

“I wish I had faster runners in the race. People who have run faster times than me before, going shoulder to shoulder. That will help me push harder,” she said when I asked how she intended to make better times.

It was an admission that revealed two things about her: she is fully aware of how good she is compared to her peers locally, and she knows better competition will do a great deal for her development.

But Halutie has not always been aware of her potential neither did she possess promise, at least not from the start anyway.

“She was a typical village runner. Her hands and legs were all over the place. She had no shoes on, had no technique and finished 4th in her race.”

Anselm Nyavedzi, Physical Education Teacher at T.I. Ahmadiya Senior High School in the Ashanti Region, recalls when he first saw Hor Halutie run in Ho.

This was back in 2014 when Halutie, then only 14, represented the Upper West Region in the Inter-Regional Basic Schools Athletics Competition in the Volta Regional capital.

Nyavedzi was scouting for talent for AMASS, a school so famously known for their strong athletics program.

“There was something about her. She had the right height and looked determined. I liked the fire in her eyes. Although she finished 4th, I could see she put everything into the race.

“She gave it her all. And that’s why I knew she had the right attitude to succeed,” Nyavedzi said when asked why he chose her despite her abysmal performance in that race.

Halutie (right) with fellow athlete Rafiatu Nuhu. Both ladies are models for Just Because Fitness (Image credit: Just Because Fitness)

Halutie recalls how she almost missed out on the event that would eventually lead her to where she is now.

“During the inter-districts competition in Tumu, I was not feeling well and left camp to go to my village for treatment. I was almost certain to miss out, until one of my coaches sent a message to my mother to beg her to let me come and compete, even if on one leg.

“I struggled to get a car to Tumu where the competition was being held. Then we saw a motorbike rider heading there and my mother begged him to take me.

“When I got there, I never had the chance to train again because I was not fully recovered but on the day of the event, I won the race.”

That was how Halutie got selected to represent the Upper West Region in Ho.

When Halutie returned to Nmanduonu, her village in the Sissala East District of the Upper West Region, the most important thing in her possession was the tiny piece of paper she rolled into the side pocket of her bag. It contained the phone number of Mr. Nyavedzi.

“When he asked me if I’d be interested in going to AMASS, I was very excited because I had never been to Kumasi before.

“He wrote his phone number on a piece of paper and asked me to call him when I got to the village. He also took my brother’s phone number.”

But it would take more than just a phone call to convince Halutie’s parents and all 13 of her siblings that entrusting her in the hands of a man they had never met was a good idea.

“Coach Mourinho [Nyadvezi] sent an old school mate to come and meet my family. My father was more willing to let me go but my brothers were reluctant,” Halutie recalled of the meeting.

“They wondered if he wasn’t going to turn me into a sex slave or something worse. Athletic scholarship was a non-existent concept to them.”

After nearly two hours of meeting and several phone calls to Nyavedzi later, Halutie was finally granted permission to travel to Kumasi to begin her Senior High School education at AMASS, with full athletic scholarship.

Halutie’s first name, Hor, literally means “metal” in the Sissali language and she needed the full manifestation of the strength her named oozed to pull through a difficult first year at AMASS.

Halutie running for AMASS. She won the gold medal in the 100m final. (Image credit: HOGIA)

“In fact, during her first year, she was not good enough to be part of the AMASS inter-school athletics team and she was struggling to combine school work with all the training. It was all new to her.

“But she kept working hard and by the second year, she was our leading female 100m and 200m runner,” Nyavedzi revealed.

Once she had truly found her feet, there was no going back. She went on to dominate the Ashanti Regional Inter-Schools athletics competition, winning both the 100m and 200m titles for AMASS in 2016 and 2017.

The victorious AMASS 4x100m relay team in 2016. Halutie (first from left) was part of that team. (Image credit: HOGIA)

In April 2017, still in final year of high school, Halutie ran a lifetime best of 11.57s at the Ghana Athletics Association’s Circuit Championships in Kumasi.

It was a time that put her 3rd on the National Ranking in that event only behind experienced Janet Amponsah’s 11.32s, Flings Owusu-Agyapong’s 11.36s and leveled with Persis William-Mensah.

Remarkably, she was not only the youngest in that illustrious company; she was also the only locally-based athlete.

Halutie’s consistency in the 100m has been enviably stupendous. In the lead up to her record-breaking run in Kumasi, Halutie had done three previous Personal Bests in the same year.

At the Tamale Circuit in February, she ran a PB of 11.86s in the heats, and then smashed that in the final with a new PB of 11.75s.

Then in the next circuit in March in Accra, she made nonsense of her previous PB with a new PB time of 11.68s before obliterating it a month later in Kumasi.

2018 did not start out quite as exhilarating, with an underwhelming run of 11.71s in the 100m in the Sekondi Championships in January. And while not being a PB, it was still her 3rd best time and her 200m time of 23.85s was a PB and a Championship record.

After the Sekondi Championships, Halutie, along with other athletes selected by the GAA, spent nearly a month in camp at Cape Coast and was well-conditioned.

Just Because Fitness, the fitness enthusiasts who had taken up sponsorship of Halutie, had also given her strict nutritional regimen to follow.

“She said she feels lighter,” Sara Asafu-Adjei, Programs Director of the JBF said of her response to the new nutrition plan.

When Cape Coast came around, she was ready.

Halutie does not have the fastest starts. She tends to get off the blocks late, a peculiar problem with most Ghanaian sprinters as evidenced by Janet Amponsah’s horrendous start at the World Championships in London.

But she has a powerful finish.

In the end, that was all she needed in Cape Coast as she steamrolled her way to the finish line in a record 11.47s, a new PB and a championship record.

The old circuit record of 11.57s was held by Hor Halutie prior to last Saturday’s event. It also eclipsed the fastest 100m electronic time run by a local athlete in Ghana by Beatrice Gyaman (11.55s) at the Soga Nana Memorial meet in 2016.

Halutie’s time is also the fastest any locally-based athlete has ever run on Ghanaian soil since electronic timing began.

It was a truly special moment for everyone in the stadium, except Halutie, who at first, did not seem to fully embrace the magnitude of what she had just done.

“I only wanted to reduce my time, and I’m happy I did that,” she said. But after being reminded she had just done something unprecedented for a local athlete, she replied with a broad smile: “Ok that’s good.”

Halutie’s 100m records are complemented by records in the 200m. She set a new PB and championship record of 23.49s in Cape Coast, annihilating her own previous record in the same event.

As impressive as Halutie’s accomplishments are, her performances in Cape Coast were not good enough to qualify her for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Australia (she needed to make the qualification time of 11.30s). And yet, she could be on her way to the games as part of Ghana’s women’s 4x100m relay team.

“We cannot ignore these performances she put up here in forming our relay team. She will definitely be considered,” Dr. Sylvanus Lamptey, the GAA’s vice president, declared at the end of the Cape Coast event.

The overwhelming feeling among GAA officials is that Halutie is burgeoning with lots of potential but will still need perpetual improvement to reach elite levels.

Dr. Andrew Owusu, Associate Professor in the Department of Health & Human Performance (HHP) at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) and a former national athlete had this to say about Halutie:

“Halutie has lots of potential. She possesses quite a bit of power but not really taking advantage of what she has. She needs a bit more work on the upper mechanics and application on force into the ground and she will be up there. She has everything to succeed.”

Not too long ago, Ghana was considered one of the very best in Africa in the sprint events in athletics.

Vida Anim holds the national record in the 100m, set at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece with a time of 11.14s, while Vida Nsiah was a trailblazer for women sprints in the country and still holds the national record for the 200m, set in Stuttgart in 1997 with a time of 22.80s.

Those were the days of true sprint queens.

Since Anim though, the likes of Janet Amponsah and Flings Owusu-Agyepong have shown promises of achieving inspiring feats but none has yet reached the heights of the two Vidas.

Janet Amponsah ran 22.90s (PB) in the 200m last year and has a PB 11.29s in the 100m.

But once in a while, a talent comes along and gives you hope that, just maybe, the glory days could be on their way back.

Halutie has shown that given the right training and environment, she could be the one to bring Ghana’s glory days back.

]]>http://sport.citifmonline.com/2018/02/28/hor-halutie-the-making-of-ghanas-next-sprint-queen/feed/0Usain Bolt joins celeb football match at Old Traffordhttp://sport.citifmonline.com/2018/02/27/usain-bolt-joins-celeb-football-match-at-old-trafford/
http://sport.citifmonline.com/2018/02/27/usain-bolt-joins-celeb-football-match-at-old-trafford/#respondTue, 27 Feb 2018 12:27:00 +0000http://sport.citifmonline.com/?p=80602The eight-time Olympic gold medallist will captain a team of celebrities and footballers for the Soccer Aid match on 10 June.

“It’s my dream to make it as a professional footballer. To play against some of football’s biggest legends is going to be remarkable,” the Jamaican sprinter said.

Robbie Williams will captain rivals England for the Unicef match.

Usain has spoken previously about wanting to get into professional football after retiring from athletics last year.

And over the weekend he put out a cheeky tweet – which led to much speculation – hinting he’d been signed to a club.

“Robbie and his England team better watch out as I won’t be going easy on them,” said Usain, adding that he’s got a “special celebration” planned should his team win.

The 31-year-old is a Manchester United fan, and once even made a surprise call to MUTV, its TV channel.

“I always said that I want to cope in more of a team sport because the track is individual,” he told the football club.

“I catch along easily and understand what I need to do when I get a job. When I get instructions, I can carry them out really well,” he said.

The Soccer Aid game at the team’s home ground will see celebrities and former world-class footballers playing together on the same team.

The event, which takes place biannually, has raised £24 million to help children since its launch in 2006.

The match has seen the likes of footballers Maradona, Alan Shearer and Ronaldinho play alongside celebs like Mark Wright, Jack Whitehall and Olly Murs.

Will Ferrell, Gordon Ramsay, Mike Myers and Craig David have also played in previous years.

Source: BBC

]]>http://sport.citifmonline.com/2018/02/27/usain-bolt-joins-celeb-football-match-at-old-trafford/feed/0GAA Circuit: Hor Halutie steals the show in record-breaking championshipshttp://sport.citifmonline.com/2018/02/24/gaa-circuit-hor-halutie-steals-the-show-in-record-breaking-championships/
http://sport.citifmonline.com/2018/02/24/gaa-circuit-hor-halutie-steals-the-show-in-record-breaking-championships/#respondSat, 24 Feb 2018 19:20:18 +0000http://sport.citifmonline.com/?p=80509Sprinters Hor Halutie, Duncan Agyemang and Sarfo Ansah, all set new championship records as the Ghana Athletics Association’s second circuit of the year came to a close at the Cape Coast Sports Stadium.

The championship, held after Sekondi a month ago, served as the last opportunity for locally based athletes to qualify for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Australia in April.

The day belonged to 18 year old former T.I. Ahmadiyya SHS student, Halutie, who smashed her Personal Best of 11.57s to set a new Circuit Record since the championships began in 2014 crossing the finish line in 11.47s in the heats.

The previous circuit record was held by Beatrice Gyaman (11.55s)

Her time is also the fastest by any local female athlete ever ran in Ghana. Vida Anim’s junior record of 11.38s was done in Lagos in 2001.

Halutie’s 200m time of 23.49s in the women’s 200m women’s final is a championship record, bettering the previous record of 23.85s, which she set in Sekondi a month ago.

In the women’s 400m final, Rafiatu Nuhu got revenge over Faustina Amoah who beat her in Sekondi, crossing the line in 53.34s, a new Personal Best for the 2017 World Youth Championships runner.

The 800m women’s final was won by Selomey Agyei with a time of 2mins 09.10s, a new PB for her. She is still some way behind Martha Bissah’s circuit record of 2mins, 0.19s set in 2014.

The men’s events were equally exhilarating.

Sarfo Ansah of the University for Development Studies took 0.10s off his previous PB of 10.52s to clock 10.42s, a new Championship record.

The University of Cape Coast’s own Duncan Agyemang, the GUSA games champion, set a new Circuit record of 46.59s and later declared his readiness to run for Ghana’s 4x400m relay team.

Veteran heptathlete, Margaret Sampson, there 49.04m in the women’s javelin event, more than a meter less than the 50.30m she threw at the Sekondi event.

There were also glimpses of bright athletic talent from the senior high schools invited to the competition as guests.

St. Augustine’s College won the men’s 4x100m and 4x400m relays while Wesley Girls School won the women’s 4x100m while Mfantsiman Girls School won the 4x400m relays.

In the end, no athlete qualified for the Commonwealth Games but Public Relations Officer of the GA, Erasmus Kwaw, was impressed with the marked improvement he witnessed from all the athletes.

“After the Sekondi circuit, we put some of the athletes in camp, and the improvement was evident.

“Today’s circuit has to be one of the best I’ve ever seen. Remarkable times have been made by some of the athletes and we are very pleased with this,” he said.

Just Because Fitness, were also presented an award by the GAA for their contribution to Ghana athletics.

The sports enthusiast group has been instrumental in the rise and rise of both Hor Halutie and Rafiatu Nuhu, providing both nutritional and financial support towards their training programs.

His mark beat the previous record of 6.39 set twice by fellow American Maurice Greene, in 1998 and 2001.

Coleman’s time is pending ratification by world governing body, the IAAF.

The 21-year-old clocked 6.37 at a South Carolina meeting last month but it was not ratified for technical reasons.

That time beat his previous best of 6.45, which he recorded when he won the US Indoor Championship last year.

“I was just trying to come out with the win,” Coleman was quoted as saying on the IAAF website.

My start was decent. Every time, I feel like I’ve got a lot of work to do… When I transitioned, I stood up, and I felt as good as I’ve ever felt. For it to be the world record was pretty special.”

Source: BBC

]]>http://sport.citifmonline.com/2018/02/20/christian-coleman-breaks-20-year-old-60m-indoor-world-record/feed/0Margaret Simpson to GAA: “Bring back old athletes to help Ghana Athletics”http://sport.citifmonline.com/2018/01/29/margaret-simpson-to-gaa-bring-back-old-athletes-to-help-ghana-athletics/
http://sport.citifmonline.com/2018/01/29/margaret-simpson-to-gaa-bring-back-old-athletes-to-help-ghana-athletics/#respondMon, 29 Jan 2018 11:15:48 +0000http://sport.citifmonline.com/?p=79607Veteran Ghanaian athlete Margaret Simpson is calling for the inclusion of retired athletes in the management of athletics in the country.

Simpson remains the only female Ghanaian athlete to win a medal at the World Athletics Championships when she won bronze in the women’s heptathlon event in 2005.

The 35-year old Simpson is back competing in the javelin event where she threw 50.30m, a little over 2m less than the qualifying mark of 52.44m for the 2018 African Championships to be held in Abuja in August.

Speaking to Citi Sports’ Fentuo Tahiru on the side of the first GAA Athletics Circuit in Sekondi, Simpson said the inclusion of old athletes in either coaching or administration of athletics at the national level can help develop the sport in the country.

“I’m sure the GAA themselves would be happy to have old athletes coming to join the association so we can all put our heads together,” she told Citi Sports.

“Those at the GAA now are old athletes like Bawa Fuseini [GAA Gen. Sec.] and Professor Francis Dodoo [GAA President]. They were athletes before going into administration.

“So it will be nice for some of us old athletes to also come back to the GAA to help out, especially on the track where we can help the younger ones to develop.”

Simpson holds the national javelin record in the women’s division with a throw of 56.36m, the joint high jump record of 1.85m and heptathlon record of 6423 points.